Spandau Ballet

Recently, the band have managed to put their differences behind them and a reunion tour has been mentioned; however, the success of Martin Kemp's acting career means that plans remain on hold. This edition of the band also toured extensively as part of a '70s rock nostalgia package through the early 2000s. The three non-Kemp members toured as a trio, but as Gary Kemp owned the rights to the name of Spandau Ballet, they had to go under the less-than-catchy moniker of 'Hadley, Keeble and Norman, ex-Spandau Ballet'. A version of Styx featuring Shaw, Gowan, and sole remaining original member James Young released an album called Cyclorama in February, 2003. As a result, Hadley in particular was left very short of money, and he ended up entertaining troops and taking part in the reality show Reborn in the USA. DeYoung continued his solo career (his biggest solo album was "Desert Moon"), and Chuck Panozzo announced he was HIV positive in 2001. In the 1990s, Hadley, Keeble and Norman launched a failed court case against Gary Kemp for a share of royalties which they claimed they were due. Chuck Panozzo also left at this time - partly out of loyalty to DeYoung, and also to mourn his brother's death (Glen Burtnik returned to fill Chuck's bass duties).

Gary Kemp did a little more acting, appearing in a supporting role in the Kevin Costner hit The Bodyguard, and in 1996 released a critically praised solo album, Little Bruises. Before he had a chance to return to the group - whose members were perfectly willing to wait for him to recover - DeYoung found himself replaced by Lawrence Gowan on the record company's insistence that the band begin touring again as soon as possible. Martin Kemp went on to land an acting role in the UK soap opera Eastenders, while Tony Hadley floundered trying to establish a solo career. DeYoung was further hindered in attempts to reform due to a strange viral illness which made him excessively sensitive to light. The album bombed and Spandau Ballet — from whom Gary Kemp was already feeling estranged — split up for good. Once again, though, personality conflicts drove the band members apart. After a hiatus from recording during which the Kemps established themselves as credible actors in the gangster film The Krays, the band released Heart Like a Sky in 1989. Continuing with Todd Sucherman replacing Panozzo, Styx's reunion tour was a success and the band soon released a new album Brave New World (1999).

The title track was a big hit in the UK, but the album did nothing in America. The entire band reunited in 1996 for a tour, but John Panozzo was unable to participate due to problems with alcohol that killed him soon after. In 1986 Spandau Ballet signed to Epic Records and released Through the Barricades, which saw the band trying to move away from the pop/soul influences of True and Parade and more towards rock. The new line-up released one album, Edge of the Century, before once again disbanding. At the end of 1984, the band performed on the Band Aid charity single, with Hadley taking a prominent lead vocal role; and in 1985, they performed at the Wembley end of Live Aid. In 1990, with Shaw achieving some success with Damn Yankees, the remaining elements of Styx reformed with Glen Burtnik replacing Shaw. Its opening single "Only When You Leave" became their last American hit. Shaw formed Damn Yankees in 1989 with Ted Nugent, Jack Blades and Michael Cartellone.

But the followup, Parade (1984), was critically drubbed for failing to move the band's sound forward. DeYoung released several successful solo albums centered around pop ballads and soft rock tunes, and James Young attempted a solo career with limited success. The album topped the charts on the both sides of the Atlantic and launched several hit singles such as "Gold" and the aforementioned title cut. By 1985, this most-successful version of Styx had disbanded and the members had moved onto moderately successful solo careers. It was at this point that Norman became the band's sax player. Roboto" and DeYoung's power ballad "Don't Let It End". The image changed too - the cossack outfits and make-up of New Romanticism (which was dying as a fad in 1983 anyway) had been replaced by smart suits and well-scrubbed faces. Kilroy did contain several hits, including the synthesizer-based "Mr.

With newfound confidence and a cleaner, radio-friendly sound, Spandau Ballet finally broke into the mainstream with True (1983), an album whose title cut was a six-minute opus paying tribute to the Motown sound (and in some respects, Marvin Gaye). Kilroy sold well and was the centerpiece of an ambitious and theatrical stage show; however, the album and tour were a critical disaster and brought the tensions within the band to a breaking point. It was a massive hit. Critics said that the concept behind the album was still very murky; several band members themselves admitted to not really getting it. Horn also took the Diamond album track "Instinction" and gave it a bombastic dance remix that sounded not unlike the work he would later do for Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The band followed DeYoung's lead with their next project, Kilroy Was Here: another, more fully-realized concept album, this one set in a future where music itself has been outlawed. The followup album Diamond performed poorly, despite a big hit with "Chant No.1", and the band met with veteran producer Trevor Horn, who advised them on how to revamp their image and sound. On the success of the ballad "Babe", Styx founder DeYoung had been pushing for a more theatrical and pop-oriented direction, while Shaw favored a harder-edged approach.

This was followed by "The Freeze" and "Musclebound" and the well-received album Journeys to Glory. During this period of greatest success, the band, particularly DeYoung and Shaw, began to be affected by interpersonal tensions. The band eventually signed to Island Records and released "To Cut a Long Story Short", a British hit in 1980. In 1980, Styx released Paradise Theater, a loose concept album that became their biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard pop albums chart and yielding five top-40 singles including the top 10 hits "The Best Of Times" and "Too Much Time on My Hands". They began performing and generating positive buzz around London as the house band at the Blitz nightclub, which became regarded as the birthplace of a new 1980s music and fashion phenomenon called New Romanticism. Through the late 1970s the band enjoyed its greatest success, with the album releases Pieces of Eight (1978) finding the group moving in a more straight-ahead pop-rock direction and spawning the hit singles "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man", and Cornerstone (1979) yielding the group's first number one hit, the DeYoung ballad "Babe", as well as their biggest international hit, "Boat on the River". The band were initially called 'The Makers', but changed their name after a visit to Berlin, the inspiration from graffiti on the walls of Spandau Prison. The first album with Shaw, Crystal Ball (1976), was moderately successful, and its followup, The Grand Illusion (1977) became the group's breakthrough hit, going platinum and spawning a top-ten hit and AOR radio staple in "Come Sail Away".

Guitarist and songwriter Gary Kemp and his brother, bassist Martin Kemp formed the band in 1979, with drummer John Keeble, lead vocalist Tony Hadley and Steve Norman, who initially played guitar but later switched to saxophone when the band changed musical direction. Following the move to A&M, Curulewski left the band, replaced by singer and guitarist Tommy Shaw. As with their poppier rivals Duran Duran they 'broke America', albeit briefly. On the heels of its belated hit single, Styx signed with A&M Records and released Equinox (1975), which sold well and yielded a minor hit in "Lorelei". Initially inspired by a mixture of funk, synthpop and New Romantic, they eventually mellowed into a mainstream AOR pop act. In the spring of 1975, nearly two years after the album it came from was released, "Lady" hit the top ten, and Styx II went gold soon after. Spandau Ballet was a popular band of the 1980s. On the strength of these releases and constant playing in local clubs and schools, the band established a fan base in the Chicago area, but was unable to break into the mainstream until an early song, the power ballad "Lady" (from Styx II) began to earn some radio time, first in Chicago and then nation-wide.

The band's Wooden Nickel recordings, Styx (1972), Styx II (1973), The Serpent Is Rising (1974) and Man of Miracles (also 1974) were a mixture of straight-ahead rock with some dramatic prog-rock flourishes and art-rock aspirations. Changing their name briefly to TW4, the band added guitarists James Young and John Curulewski, and were soon signed to Wooden Nickel Records, under the name Styx. This earliest line-up of the group included singer and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung, and a rhythm section comprised of brothers Chuck and John Panozzo. The group originally formed in the Chicago area in the late 1960s as The Tradewinds.

Styx was an American rock and roll band popular in the 1970s and early 1980s. 200- The Big Bang Theory. 2003 Cyclorama. 2003 21st Century Live (live).

Louis (live). 2002 At the River's Edge: Live in St. 2001 Styx World: Live 2001 (live). 2000 Arch Allies: Live at Riverport (live) (with REO Speedwagon).